Op-Ed: City must consider findings of police report

Published 6:55 pm, Thursday, July 26, 2012

I believe the public interest will be served by providing more visibility to the recently completed Matrix consulting study and encouraging elected officials to thoroughly evaluate and responsibly address the report's recommendations on a timely basis. Despite the good intentions of the Board of Finance in providing a recent public forum on this study, the meeting warranted more time and ended inconclusively despite the many opportunities identified to improve police operations and significantly reduce costs.

In June 2011, the city engaged Matrix Consulting Group, a national leader in municipal public safety consulting, to conduct a comprehensive review of the organizational and operational effectiveness of the Stamford Police Department (SPD). The last such study was in 1998.

The study objectives were to:

- Determine "optimal" size and structure of department relative to the city's public safety needs.

- Analyze "root causes" of the current high level of annual overtime spending ($5 million-plus) and identify possible cost-control actions.

- Identify areas in the current collective bargaining agreement that warrant change to foster more cost-effective operations.

- Provide supportable recommendations to help improve the organizational effectiveness and operating efficiency of the SPD.

A steering committee comprised of members of the administration, Police Department, Board of Finance, Board of Representatives, and the police commission oversaw this project, which cost $43,000. A detailed written report including findings and recommendations was provided to the administration in mid-February. On June 25, at a special meeting of the Board of Finance, Mr. Richard Brady, president of Matrix, discussed the study's findings and recommendations.

While the study recognized the SPD's widely respected public safety record, it identified several areas where significant improvements are possible, some of which involve work rules in the SPD's collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The timing of the Matrix report is opportune, since this agreement expired on June 30 and is being renegotiated.

While maintaining Stamford's high-quality public safety record is an important ongoing goal, the Matrix report provides a valuable tool to re-examine many outdated and inefficient "legacy" policies and practices and to measurably improve the department's operations and cost structure.

Some of the study's most important findings and recommendations were:

Patrol

- Based on the observed workload, the current number of patrol officers (123 officers assigned to patrol and 18 sergeants) is sufficient to provide an extremely high level of service to the community. Contrary to a prior press report, the study did not recommend reducing the current number of police officers.

- The contractually required "minimum staffing levels" (per current CBA) should be reduced from 18 to 12 on day and swing shifts, and from 16 on the late shift to 10.

The analysis showed that commitments to fielding 18 and 16 officers for these shifts were not supportable by workloads and were one of the primary drivers of high overtime.

Mr. Brady indicated this change in staffing could be accomplished without adversely impacting the current level of public safety and would also help eliminate the majority of overtime costs (approximately $1,300,000 in fiscal 2011) related to the current required "minimum staffing level."

In addition, a significant portion of the approximately $900,000 in annual overtime related to shift holdover and continuation could be eliminated.

- Increase annual work hours to at least 2,080 (as is much more common nationally) from 1,947; this would increase staff resource availability in the Patrol Division by about 7 percent.

- Implement a minor revision to the current shift times (simply adjust start and finish times by one hour) to better balance "proactive" time (i.e., time available for routine policing when not responding to calls for service).

- Develop a dedicated Traffic Unit on day/swing shifts to improve service delivery.

Investigations

- Adopt a more formalized "case management system," including use of "solvability" and case prioritization factors to improve productivity and cost-effectiveness.

Communications Center (includes Dispatch)

- Average response time of over 23 minutes compares unfavorably to norms, and average response to "high priority" calls of over 12 minutes is more than twice the normal target in municipal environments. The problem appears to be in the Dispatch area, which prioritizes calls by "category/type" instead of by "urgency" and should operate much more efficiently.

- "Civilianize" the management of the Dispatch operation (i.e., using non-uniformed, trained personnel) and realign staffing level to the workload. By doing so, six uniformed managers could be replaced by less-costly civilians resulting in an estimated annual net savings of approximately $200,000.

- In addition, nine positions could be eliminated at an estimated annual savings of $600,000

- "Civilianize" various support service operations, including Vehicle Maintenance and Central Hiring, which currently rely on uniformed staff. This could generate an estimated annual net savings over $200,000.

Maximizing the value of the Matrix study requires a collaborative and objective process among city officials, including SPD management. In addition, fiscal discipline and a sense of urgency are required to deal with needed changes to the collective bargaining agreement, since contract negotiations are pending.

Significant cost-control opportunities beyond those identified in the Matrix study exist and should also be pursued. For example, in the past five years annual salary increases totaling 14 percent were granted despite the ongoing weak economic environment. In addition, SPD employees who retire at or after age 55 currently receive free lifetime post-retirement medical benefits, a questionable practice the city can no longer afford.

Under the circumstances I recommend that elected officials consider and pursue the following steps:

- Convene a joint meeting of the Board of Reps' Public Safety and Fiscal Committees to review the findings and recommendations in the Matrix report; include Mr. Brady and appropriate members of the administration, including SPD management; request that the administration present its assessment of the Matrix report and intended action plan (including areas of agreement/disagreement, possible areas requiring more research/analysis, priorities, and planned next steps).

- Promptly convene a joint meeting of the Board of Finance Human Resources and Board of Reps Personnel Committees (in executive session if appropriate) to review the administration's goals and priorities regarding the pending renegotiation of the SPD collective bargaining agreement considering the urgent need -- especially considering the many significant opportunities identified -- to better control costs while at the same time improving operations.

- Utilize the steering committee to oversee remaining work on this project.

- Request that the administration provide periodic updates at regularly scheduled meetings of the Board of Finance and Board of Reps.

Frederick C. Flynn Jr. is Stamford's former director of administration.